Furnace



W. LLOYD.

FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY15 Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I mum:

W. LLOYD.

FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEE 2.

M a g W. LLOYD.

FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I5, 1918.

Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

3 SHEETSSHEE? 3 WILL/H L a/ Fir-roams? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM LLOYD, 0F HAZLETON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO COXE TRAVELING GRATE COMPANY, OF PORT CARBON, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVANIA.

FURNACE.

Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

Application filed May 15, 1918. Serial No: 234,673.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM LLOYD, a citizen of the United States of America, residin at Hazleton, in the county of Luzerne and tate of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to furnaces and par ticularly to a feed hopper for furnaces of the traveling grate type, the object of my invention being to improve the hopper construction in certain particulars hereinafter described or shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a furnace hopper in which my invention is embodied in one form;

Fig. 2 is a broken elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the feed plate portion of the hopper;

Fig. 4 is a partial view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the ignition plate in a different position;

Fig. 5 is a partial view of the opposite (13nd of the hopper from that illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 are sections on the lines 66, 77, repectively, inFig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line 8-8, Fig. 10, through a hopper showing a modified construction of certain details;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9, Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a broken elevation of the hopper shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a broken plan of the same, and

Fig. 12 is a perspective of the adjusting mechanism.

In its general features the present hopper resembles that shown in my copending application Serial No. 219,255 and comprises a pair of side uprights 2021, between which extends the fixed outer wall 22 secured to transverse angle irons 23-24, which, with the uprights, form' the frame of the hopper. A cut-ofi gate 25 is pivoted at 26 in the upper portion of the hopper and is operated by a lever 27 through toggle links 28 and 29 pivoted on the cross shaft 30. The construction of this cut-off gate is The features of improvement indicated in Flgs. 1 to 7 inclusive relate primarily to the ignition plate 32 and particularly to the means for adjusting the latter with relation to the regulating gate 31. As here shown the ignition plate is provided at opposite sides of the lower portion thereof with trunnion pins .33 secured thereto by bolts 34. The bearlngs for these trunnion pins consist of recesses or boxes 35 let into the lower portions of the side uprights 20 and 21 and inclined downward toward the fire chamber 36, Fig. 1. These boxes are elongated and afford bearings in which the trunnions may slide. The upper margin of the ignition plate underlies the lower edge of the hopper plate 22 and is supported in this position by the blocks 37 and 38, against which it freely rests. slotted at 39 to receive the securing bolts 40, which thus afford a quickly detachable connection for the blocks and enable the attenda-nt to remove them when the plate 32 is to be dropped for slicing the fire. The bearing faces 41 of the supporting blocks are preferably curved as shown.

To shift the ignition plate in its slot bearings 35, a pair of bars 42 is provided, one at each end of the ignition plate, engaging the trunnions 33. The outer ends of the bars are provided on their lower faces with racks 43 which mesh with pinions 44 on the cross shaft 45 journaled in bearings 46 bolted to the side uprights. The guides 47, through which the outer ends of the bars 42 pass, are provided with hubs 48 centered on the bearings 46, so that they are concentrlc The margins of these blocks are with the shaft 45 and insure the proper spective of the various angular positions assumed by the bars on the regulation of the position of the ignition plate. On one end of the cross shaft 45 I mount an operating handle 49 which carries a locking clamp 50, the stem of which passes through the slot 51 of the clamp plate 52, which may be formed as a flange at the end of the adjacent bearing 46 for thecross shaft 45. Obviously, upon the rotation of this shaft 45, throughthe operation of the handle 49, the trunnion pins 33 of the ignition plate 32 are shifted longitudinally of the bearing boxes 35, thus varying the inclination of the ignition platewith relation to the regulating gate 31. This has the efiect of increasing or decreasing the thickness of the fuel bed which flows from the ignition plate to the traveling grate 53. Moreover, it has the further advantage of regulating the inclination of the fuel bed as it enters the fire chamber. Furthermore, the prompt ignition of the fuel at the hopper end of the furnace is largely dependent upon the proper positioning of the ignition plate with relation to the furnace arch at this point, and the proper position varies not only with the character of fuel used, but with the draft employed. The means which I have provided permits a very nice regulation of the position of the ignition plate to suit varying conditions of operation. .It will be noted that the range aifordedextends from a position within the fire box to a position well behind the arch at the ignition or hopper end of the fire box.

Obviously, the position of the trunnions 1n the slots 35 does not affect in any way the lowering of the ignition plate to permit slicing of the fire bed by the attendant when that becomes necessary. To drop the ignition plate, the supporting blocks 37, 38 are removed by loosening the bolts 40, whereupon the plate drops by gravity. to the position indicated in Fig. 4. The handles 320 secured to the top of the ignition plate permit the operator to lift and lower the plate without difliculty. The inclination of the bearing slots 35 serves to maintain the nose of the ignition plate at substantially the same distance from the grate 53 irrespective of the position imparted to the ignition plate through the adjusting shaft 45. In other words the inclination of the slots 35 is so predetermined with respect tothe distance from the trunnions 33 to the nose of the ig- 1 nition plate 32 that the spacing of the nose from the face of the grate bars 53 is maintained substantially constant regardless of the difi'erent inclinations of the ignition plate incident to the longitudinal adjustment of the trunnions in the slots 35. s

In the modification illustrated in Figs.

8, 9, and 10, the ignition plate consists of a series of flat blocks 54 without the usual rotective fire brick or casting shown in igs. 1 to 7. The trunnions 5556 are bolted to an angle iron 57 and work as previously described in the elongated bearin boxes 35 in the side uprights. Instead o adjusting gear of'the type shown in Figs. 1 to 7, I have provided the bars 58, which engage the trunnions, with threaded outer ends 59, on which screw the thumb nuts 60 held against longitudinal movement on the screws by ring bearlngs 61 strapped at 62 to the side uprights. A second angle iron 63 stretches across the upper portion of the ignition take up plate, and the end blocks 54 are bolted there-.

oil gate 68 also made in sectional form, the.

several segments 69 thereof being bolted at 70 to transverse angle irons 71 and 72 which form a supporting frame. This construction has the advantage of being readily and economically formed from metal plates and standard rolled angles. 7

In order to secure precise alinement of the lower edge of the regulating gate 31 with the uppersurface of the grate 53, and thus insure a fuel bed of equal depth across the entire width of the grate, I provide means for vertically adjusting one end of the gate with relation to the other. For this purpose I provide at one end of the lifting shaft 73 a pinion 74: keyed thereon, while the pinion 75 at the other end of the shaft is free. Adjacent the latter is a hub 76 keyed to the shaft. Abutting flanges 77 and 78 are provided on the pinion and hub respectively, one of these flanges carrying bolts 79 and the other having arcuate slots 80 formed therein to receive the shanks of the bolts. The slots 80 are of such arcuate extent as to permit the rotation of the pinion 75 with relation to theshaft 73 a sufficient distance to inaccuracies in alinement of the regulating gate, which may be due to error in castings, key ways, or screw hole layouts. The tightening of the bolts 79 of course secures the hub 76 and pinion 75 rigidly togetherz, so that the pinions actuate the usual lifting bars 81 and 82 in unison. An adjusting mechanism of this character is particularly applicable to stokers of relatively narrow width. For stokers of a width exceeding six feet it is preferred to use an independent lifting device at each side of the regulating gate, such, for example, as that illustrated in my copending application 219.255.

Various modifications in detail of construction will readily occur to those skilled in the art which do not depart from what I claim as my invention.

I claim 1. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes from the hopper to the furnace grate, and means for adjusting said ignition plate bodily toward and from the fire 'box, together with a. cut-ofi' gate arranged inthe hopper above the ignition plate and serving to control the supply of fuel to the ignition plate.

'2. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes from the hopper to the furnace grate and means for adjusting the lower end of the ignition plate from a point within the hopper to a point within the fire box of the furnace.

3. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes from the hopper to the furnace grate, a pivotal support for the lower portion of the ignition plate, and means for adjusting said pivotal support toward and from the fire box.

4. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes from the hopper to the furnace grate, apivotal support for thelower portion of the ignition plate, and slide bearings in which said pivotal support may be advanced toward or retracted from the fire box.

5. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper having side uprights recessed at their lower portions to form slide bearings, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes from the hopper to the furnace grate, trunnions for the lower portion of said ignition plate, said trunnions resting in said slide bearings in the side uprights of the hopper, and means for shifting said trunnions in said slide bearings.

6. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper having side uprights recessed at their lower portions to form slide bearings-inclined clownward from their outer toward their fire box ends, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes to the furnace grate, trunnions for the lower portion of said ignition plate, said trunnions resting in said inclined slide bearings in the side uprights of the hopper, and means for shifting said trunnions in said slide bearings. V

7. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper, an ignition plate having trunnions at its lower side margins upon which said ignition plate is pivotally supported, slide bearings for said trunnions and adjusting bars engaging said trunnions, and means for advancing and retracting said adjusting bars to shift said trunnions in their bearings.

8. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes from the hopper to the furnace grate, said ignition plate comprising a series of independent sections and supporting means on which at least some of said sections are freely mounted.

9. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes from the hopper to the furnace grate, said ignition plate comprising a pair of transverse angle irons and a series of independent sections carried by said angle irons.

10. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes from the hopper to the furnace grate, said ignition plate comprising a pair of transverse angle irons and a. series of independent sections carried by said angle irons, certain of said sections being freely engaged with said angle irons.

11. In a mechanical stoker, a regulating gate. lifting rack bars attached thereto, a

lifting shaft, pinions thereon meshing with.

said rack bars, one of said pinions being keyed to the shaft and the other free thereon, together with a hub keyed to said shaft adjacent the free pinion and means for securing said hub to the free pinion in different relative rotary relations of said hub and pinion.

12. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper, a fuel-bed-regulating element associated with said hopper, rack bars secured to said regulating element, a shaft and pinions thereon engaging said rack bars, one of said pinions being fast on said shaft and the other free thereon, together with a hub keyed-to said shaft adjacent said free pinion, and means for securing said hub and free pinion together in various relative rotary positions of the parts, for the purpose described.

' 13. In a mechanical stoker, a. hopper, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes to the furnace grate, means for supporting said ignition plate, and means for shifting said support toward and. from the fire box, for the purpose described.

14. In a mechanical stoker, a hopper, an ignition plate over which the fuel passes to the furnace grate, means engaging the lower portion of said plate to support the same, and means for shifting said support toward and from the fire box to vary the position and inclination of the ignition plate with reference thereto.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM LLOYD. 

